Character Set Confusion ???

[rogerF]

Oracle People:

I'm writing from Sweden where we have to think about character sets often. I'm using a product(RATIONAL) that recommends:

WE8ISO8859P1

When I query the server as to it's Character Set:

SQL> SELECT Name,Value$ FROM sys.props$ WHERE Name='NLS_CHARACTERSET';

NLS_CHARACTERSET
WE8ISO8859P1

I recieve confirmation that the database is indeed WE8ISO8859P1.

Why then does export, export in USA7ASCII :
log:
PL/SQL Release 2.3.4.0.0 - Production
Export done in US7ASCII character set

The export documention promises that export exports in the character set of the export database.

THANX,
[email protected]

[pwoneill]

I believe export always uses us7ascii by default, then it is converted into whichever character set is needed.

However you might want to check your NLS_LANG environment variable which might have been set to US7ASCII.

[TerryD]

Pwoneill is right, Export uses the NLS_LANG setting of it's environment. Either change this parameter permanently (i.e. in the Registry or profile depending on your OS), or set it to the required setting before exporting.

[apfaunts]

I agree with pwoneill except for one correction - if you do not set NLS_LANG prior to export, the line in export log about US7ASCII will mean that any 8-bit data will not be contained in your export dump file... You will not be able to retreive it :-( so please set NLS_LANG prior to export for 8-bit data not to be lost.